Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/599511
COMMERCIAL CARRIER JOURNAL | NOVEMBER 2015 15 JOURNAL NEWS • The Federal Highway Administration's Emergency Relief Program made available $5 million to the South Carolina Department of Transportation to help repair roads and bridges damaged by flooding throughout the state as a result of Hurricane Joaquin. North Carolina and South Carolina both suspended federal hours-of-service rules and certain size and weight limits for drivers hauling emer- gency or relief loads. • The Veterans' Expanded Trucking Opportunities Act would allow Veterans Affairs doctors in good standing with the U.S. Department of Transportation to con- duct DOT physicals for qualified veterans to make it easier for them to acquire a commercial driver's license. The U.S. House bill was introduced Oct. 9 by Rep. Rob Woodall (R-Ga.) and lead co-sponsor Rep. Tim Walz (D-Minn.). • The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration announced nearly $2.3 million in grants, double the amount provided in 2014, to 13 technical and com- munity colleges across the country to help train veterans and their families for jobs as commercial bus and truck drivers. • The judge overseeing a class-action lawsuit against FedEx Ground over its classification of certain drivers as indepen- dent contractors instead of employees approved the company's June-announced $228 million settlement with 2,300 California-based drivers that worked at the company in California between 2000 and 2007. The settlement followed an August 2014 ruling against FedEx by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. • James Pielsticker, ex-CEO of now- defunct Arrow Trucking, last month was sentenced to 7½ years in federal prison and ordered to pay $21 million in restitu- tion after pleading guilty in a multimillion- dollar fraud scheme that contributed to the Tulsa, Okla.-based company's demise in December 2009. Pielsticker was charged with tax evasion and submitting fraudu- lent bank invoices in the scheme that led to Arrow closing its doors, canceling fuel cards and stranding hundreds of drivers across the country. • The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency fined Estes Express Lines (CCJ Top 250, No. 14) $100,000 for violating the California Truck and Bus Regulation governing diesel emissions levels for failing to install diesel particulate filters on 73 of its older tractors operating in the Golden State – about 15 percent of its California fleet. The Richmond, Va.-based less-than- truckload company also agreed to pay an additional $290,400 to help educate out- of-state fleets. • Celadon Group Inc. (CCJ Top 250, No. 35) purchased select assets of the truck- load business of Shreveport, La.-based Tango Transport (No. 112); terms were not released. Indianapolis-based Celadon, which posted revenues of $806 million in 2014, said Tango generated about $90 mil- lion in gross revenues in 2014. • XPO Logistics (CCJ Top 250, No. 12) said it has received offers for the truckload division of Con-way Inc. (No. 6), which it is acquiring in a $3 billion deal. Bradley Jacobs, XPO chief executive officer, said his company has not decided whether to sell the division that accounts for $632 million in annual revenue – 11 percent of Con-way's overall revenue and a relatively small portion of its overall business that is anchored by its less-than-truckload opera- tions. • Long Beach, Calif.-based logistics operator UTi Worldwide Inc. is being acquired by Danish supply chain and forwarding com- pany DSV for $1.35 billion. The companies expect to complete the deal in the first quarter of 2016. INBRIEF 11/15 FUEL SIPPER. You know what it takes to get the job done. That's why when you build a Western Star, you can outfi t it with a customized Detroit ™ powertrain to help you do just that. From the engine to the transmission and axles, you can spec the right truck for any job, inside and out. westernstar.com FUEL SIPPER. You know what it takes to get the Daimler Detroit / #81059 Western Star Detroit Ad 4C, 2.25 x 9.5 / CCJ Magazine DETROIT_81059_WS_CCJ.indd 1 10/6/15 10:54 AM